


The Proposal

by eyeless_soul



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, F/M, Genderswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-10 10:47:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2022249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eyeless_soul/pseuds/eyeless_soul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This a Universe that my friend Elemental_sorceress1 had come up with. She was having trouble with it so I wrote this quick little one shot to help her out.</p>
<p>In this work, Clint is Clara and Bruce is Bree. As I stated in the tags this is a Genderswap; if it isn't your cup of tea, don't read.<br/>*******<br/>Phil and Clara have been dating for a while. Phil wants to marry her. Clara thinks that he's breaking up with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Proposal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elemental_sorceress1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elemental_sorceress1/gifts).



Untitled

 

Clara Barton was not one to get nervous, in fact most of the time she made other people nervous. She was out on the Archery range at SHIELD, firing arrow after arrow. Once the targets had been hit and her quiver was empty, she collected the arrows and moved to the moving obstacle course. She knew that they were counting on her aim to precise and she knew that hitting moving targets was always a bitch but the bad guys never stayed in one spot.

 

Phil watched as Clara dodged one of the pop up targets, twisting her body at an odd angle to avoid getting shot. He knew that she had training in the circus but he was always surprised at how agile she could be. He watched as she nailed the last target in the head, using an arrow that she yanked from another targets chest area. Phil chuckled to himself, whoever said that Clara Barton was unimaginative had never seen her run out of arrows. If she knew that she was being watched she gave no sign of it. Phil continued watching her as he remembered the first time that he saw her.

 

Phil had been sent to either convince her that joining SHIELD was the best option for her or he was to end her. He followed her half way across town, swearing when he lost track of her when she abandoned the streets for the roof tops. He found her again as she slid through an open window. When she stepped foot in the room, she was met with Phil standing in her way.

 

Faster than he had thought possible, he was looking down the barrel of her gun. She smirked at him, “Why the fuck are you following me? You have exactly 20 seconds to answer before I put a bullet in your head and walk over your body.”

 

Phil had been unphased. This was not the first recruit he had to go after and it certainly wasn’t the first time, said recruit aimed a gun at him. He had known that the best way to deal with her was to explain what he was doing, try to calm her down and make no sudden movements. He put his hands up. “Do you like running? Aren’t you tired? My name is Phil Coulson and you have attracted the attention of my employer. He had noticed that you have a very specific skill set. He is prepared to offer you the chance to work for him. It’s steady work, good pay and a safe place. Please Clara, come with me. If you continue doing what you are doing, you are going to end up dead.”

 

Phil had been pretty sure that she was going to tell him to go fuck himself. The last thing that he had expected was for her to put her gun away and stare him right in the eye. “Are you fucking with me?”

 

“No.” As soon as the words had been out of his mouth, Clara had stepped towards him. She seemed exhausted and all but collapsed against him as they were leaving the building.

 

Phil was jolted from his memories as an arrow went whizzing past his head. He couldn’t help but smirk. If she hadn’t known that she had been being watched she certainly knew now. He waved to her and decided that he needed to talk to Fury right away.

 

****

Phil was standing outside Fury’s office. He knew what he wanted to do and he knew that the first step to doing that would be talking to Fury. He straightened his tie, squared his shoulders and knocked on Nick’s door.

 

“Come in.”

 

Phil walked into the room, closed the door and stood in front of Fury’s desk. “Director?”

 

“Agent. What can I do for you?” Nick studied the man that was in his office. He knew exactly why Coulson was in his office. He had been watching Phil and Clara dance around each other for months. They were dating; they didn’t think that anyone knew. For two of the best Agents that SHIELD had ever seen, they could be so naive. They thought that no one saw them arrive together in the morning after they had left together the previous night. He shook his head. He debated on letting Phil muddle his way through telling Fury that he was going to ask Clara to marry him…but Fury knew that he didn’t have all day.

 

Phil was usually very direct and to the point when it came to explanations and executing plans. But he was trying to make his explanation perfect and at that moment he was coming up blank. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. He blinked when he realized that the Director was smiling at him. “Sir?”

 

Nick clasped his hands behind his back. “I fully support your decision to ask Clara Fracine Barton to marry you. Just make sure that you don’t do anything to hurt her. I am more than certain that Natasha would kill you if you did.”

 

Coulson furrowed his brows together. “I don’t know how you know what you do, but thank you.”

 

Nick shook his head again. “I know that for a sniper she couldn’t have hid anything. Everyone in this department has seen you two together for months. The only good thing about you two getting married is that you will be able to keep her out of trouble. I don’t want her in my office anymore because of her attitude or her mouth.”

 

“Understood.” Coulson walked out of Nick’s office. He knew that Clara was probably done on the range for the day, so he made his way back to his own office. There was a mountain of paperwork that needed to be done and he knew that if he was going to take Clara out to dinner, he was going to have to get a jump start on his work load.

***

Clara Barton was not one to be nervous, but as she pulled on the sleek black dress, it was one of Phil’s favourites, her heart was hammering in her chest and she couldn’t get her hands to stop shaking. Phil had sent her a text message saying that he was going to pick her up at 8. That she needed to dress nice and that they had something very important to discuss. She was racking her brain, trying to figure out what she had done wrong. She had been playing by all the rules and she hadn’t gotten in any major trouble for running off her mouth in months. What also didn’t make sense to her was why he would tell her to dress nicely if he was just going to dump her.

 

As she slipped her feet into her heels she wiped the tear that had escaped her eyes. She knew that she would screw this up, that was all that she seemed capable of doing. She had told him when he had asked her out that he was making a very big mistake. He had kissed her and said that he loved her. SHIELD was the only home that she had known since the circus. She was guessing that after tonight, she would give Fury her SHIELD ID, her SHIELD issued hearing aids, the key to her bunker and she would make sure that all of her SHIELD gear was on her bed. She didn’t know what she would do after her dismissal; she was determined to enjoy her last night with the man that she loved.

 

***

Phil was driving to Clara’s apartment. His palms were sweaty, his head hurt and he was pretty sure that his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest. He knew that he was doing the right thing. They had been dating for a long time, so long in fact that Phil couldn’t imagine what his life would be like if she wasn’t in it. He just hoped that she would say yes. He had no idea what he would do if she said no. He was more than certain that he would request a transfer. And he would no longer be Clara’s Handler. That didn’t mean that he didn’t care for her and that wouldn’t mean that he wouldn’t check in on her and make sure that she was being treated properly. It would just mean that he wouldn’t see her. If she said no, he wouldn’t be able to look at her, and not want her.  It would break his heart to let her go but he would. After everything that she had been through, all her wanted for her was to be happy.

 

She was already waiting outside when he pulled into the parking lot of the building. She walked up to the car and with fake confidence she slid into the passenger seat. Phil smiled at her and she smiled back. He grabbed her hand, and held it all the way to the restaurant. He knew that there was something wrong because she was quiet for the entire drive. Every attempt that Phil made to start a conversation with her was met with short one word answers. She was breaking his heart and he didn’t know why.

 

As they were shown to their table at Clara’s favourite Italian restaurant, Phil debated on what to do. Clara sipped at her wine and decided that she needed to know what Phil was up to.

 

“What is all this about Phil?” She chewed nervously on her bottom lip. Originally she was going to wait, let him do what he needed to do to make himself feel better, to justify him throwing her away like trash but it was eating away at her. She needed to know what she did wrong and beg him to forgive her. She didn’t want to be alone again.

 

Phil did something that she had never seen him do. He took the handkerchief out of his breast pocket and mopped at the sweat that had been beading on his forehead. “I was going to wait until after the meal to talk to you but I think that it would be best for both of us if I got this out of the way now.”

 

“Please…” Clara begged.

 

Phil offered her a gentle smile. “Shhh. It’s okay. I know that we have been dating for awhile now. It’s been wonderful. I knew from the first time that I saw you, even if you were aiming a gun at my head, that I loved you. I knew that given the right amount of encouragement and attention that you would flourish. And you have.” Phil slid out of his seat and settled for kneeling on her left knee. “Clara Francine Barton, will you marry me?” And to Phil’s surprise she started to cry.

 

“Oh Phil.” She managed to say once she got control of herself. “I thought that you were breaking up with me. I never thought that you would propose.” She threw herself at Phil, while pulling him to his feet. “Yes…yes and a thousand time…yes.”

 

Phil kissed her as he placed the ring on her finger. “I love you so much.”

 

Clara looked at Phil. “I hate to ruin the mood but can we order? I’m starving.”

 

Phil chuckled. “We have the rest of our lives to celebrate our love for one another.” He signalled the waiter to their table. “Order anything you want.”

 

All through the meal, Clara couldn’t believe how lucky she was. She couldn’t help but smile and she knew that as soon as she walked into work the next day everyone would know. But she didn’t care. She was looking forward to spending the rest of her life with the most wonderful man in the world, the only one that had given her the time of day. She smiled at Phil and felt her heart melt as he smiled back.

 

The End


End file.
